Troubled but free
by Ravenwing2000
Summary: Max and her protective older brother Iggy live on the streets. They barely have enough money to survive, so Max sneaks to street fights to earn some money for them behind his back. In her latest one, she is mortally wounded, and a mysterious dark haired boy who Max happened to dream about appeared at her side, helping her. She then sees the person of her nightmares.
1. Chapter 1: This is our life

**Yo. So I know I haven't really updated my main story recently, please don't kill me! I broke up from school yesterday though, so I'll be updating a lot more.**

**Random Fact: I'm listening to Hear me by Imagine Dragons as I write this authors note.**

**Onwards!**

I walked down the cold street. It was a dark night, rain pouring down, the wind buffeting me, making my hair fly around.

I was hunched over, a hood over my head, my hands shoved deep into my pockets.

I'm Maximum Ride, Max for short. I'll turn 14 years old in… I looked at my watch. It was 11:45 at night, so in 15 minutes I'll be 14, and I live on the streets with my 16 year old brother, Iggy.

We don't live on the streets by choice. When I was 12, our father, Jeb Batchelder, kicked us out. He was abusive and a drunk, and neglected us up until he just threw us out of the house and told us to never come back.

More like, he threw me out. He preferred Iggy to me by quite a bit, I could tell. Iggy knew it too, and tried to shield me, but it didn't work.

Jeb abused me twice as much, and was much harder on me. I think a part of him wanted Iggy to stay, but not me. Never me. I'm the rebellious one, the one who always went against Jeb just to piss him off.

Iggy wasn't exactly obedient, but he didn't have the tendency to piss people off like I do. I partly did it on purpose.

We went to school up until the dark few days before Jeb threw us out. Iggy was the clever one, the one with lots of friends, who everybody loved. I had a couple of close friends, but not like Iggy.

He was the likable one. I was the angry and unapproachable one. He had light blond hair which was naturally red at the tips, and all the girls used to be obsessed with him. I have very dark hair, almost black, but with natural golden blond streaks running through it. I was pretty normal, boring.

But, enough about that.

I opened the door of the abandoned, crumbling apartment block that Iggy and I were staying in.

We lived in a tiny flat right at the top, so I had to spend a few minutes of torture climbing the stairs. It was pretty inconvenient, but I loved being at the top. So did Iggy. We both loved heights, but I loved them more than Iggy, and the view from our flat was worth it.

"God, I hate stairs." I muttered to myself, like I did every time I climbed them, as caught my breath at the top, my legs burning.

I quietly opened the door of our flat, slipping in and pushing the door shut as quietly as I could, locking it and putting the keys on a table. I crept silently over to where my bed was laid out on the floor, but when I was halfway there, the light turned on and somebody coughed.

_Crap._

I turned around slowly to see Iggy standing by the light switch, his mouth a disapproving line.

_Oh god. He's gonna kill me._ Were the thoughts running through my head.

"Max?" He said calmly, his voice like ice, frosty and cold.

"Yeah?" I said slowly, cautiously.

"What the hell were you thinking when you left, as it got dark, when I was asleep, without even waking me up and telling me, and not even taking something to defend yourself with?"

I shrugged.

He strode up to me, walking with long strides.

"Max! You could have been kidnapped, or murdered or-." He broke off, but I knew exactly what he was implying. "Or- worse. Were you even thinking when you left? Are you insane? You didn't take anything to defend yourself with! This is a _**Dangerous **_city at night Max. Don't make me lock you in here and hide the key."

If only he knew.

His voice had been rising as he was talking, and he was shouting as he said. "Don't you care? Do you not care about what would happen to me is something happened to you, Max? Do you not realise how much you mean to me?"

He stopped, and pulled me into a hug. I felt guilty for a second, but I squashed the guilt down.

"I'm sorry Ig." I mumbled into his chest, hugging him back tightly. He was my brother and I loved him, and I did feel bad about lying to him on such a huge scale. But I had to, for both of our sakes.

He pulled away, leaning down so he was at eye level with me. "Please don't do that again, Max." I nodded, looking away from him, thinking about all he gave up for me. He didn't have to come with me. I think Jeb would have happily looked after him. But, for my sake, he chose to protect me, and not even get enough money to feed us properly.

He pulled away from me, pulling something off the kitchen table. Yes, we had furniture. We'd gone to dumps and found suitable furniture, and managed to hastily furnish our little home. We'd manage to salvage a microwave that worked from the dump, which we could use because there was still electricity and running water in this apartment block, even though it was completely abandoned, apart from us.

Funny how miracles happen, isn't it?

He grinned, handing me a little box.

"Guess what I got for you today?"

I raised my eyebrows at him, opening it, and pulling out a beautiful necklace, with gold outstretched wings hanging from it. I gasped and looked at Iggy in awe.

"How did you get this?" I asked.

He grinned mischievously and tapped the side of his nose.

I pulled the necklace on over my head, letting the gold chain and wings hang down. I had to admit, It was beautiful, and I loved the way the light caught the gold.

"Thank you so much, Iggy!" I said, smiling and laughing.

His digital watch beeped and flashed. It was midnight.

"It's not every day you turn 14."

"I didn't think you'd remember." I said, touched.

"Of course I'd remember, Max. I'm your big brother."

He smiled, pulling out two boxes of pizza.

I gasped. "_Pizza!"_ I said, pure excitement in my voice. I _loved _pizza!My stomach rumbled, and we both laughed.

I was starving, I hadn't eaten anything all day.

Iggy and I went up to the roof of our apartment block to eat, so that we could watch the glowing, beautiful city as people drove here and there, going about their daily lives.

I wolfed down my pizza in about a minute, and ended up having around half of Iggy's. I am a big big eater, and my appetite is huge. I've been eating almost twice as much as Iggy for a few years now. He doesn't understand how I can eat so much, but I just can. I'm pretty much always hungry. It doesn't exactly make living on the streets any easier.

Iggy shook his head. "How the hell do you eat so much?"

I shrugged, yawning.

We looked out over the beautiful lights of the city, and admired the beauty. It had stopped raining before we had come up here, so everything was a bit damp, and the smell of rain was in the air. I love the smell of rain.

-time skip-

_I was in one of my fights, and I was losing._

_I was floored, and I passed out. I woke a few seconds later to see a boy crouching beside me, looking worried. He had jet black hair, and a long fringe which covered his right eye, like mine. He was all in black, and I had to admit, he was really good looking and he had an all year around tan._

_My vision blurred. I was intense pain everywhere, and was struggling to breathe. But the boy, he was my age, looked calm. He smiled casually._

_There was a cold detachment in his eyes._

"_Help.. me! I'm dying." I croaked out, going into a full panic._

_He didn't take any notice._

"_Hey." He said. "My name's Fang."_

I sat upright, breathing heavily, hand on my heart.

"Max?" Iggy said from the kitchen, already awake.

"Just a dream." I said, still catching my breathe. There was something about the boy in my dream which attracted me to him, but in my dream I had been in horrible pain, everywhere. I had felt panicked, thinking I was going to die.

I shook it out of my head, standing up.

"What do you want to do for your birthday?" Iggy asked. "I managed to get the night shift at my job."

Yeah, Iggy has a job. He has to have one, or we would have probably starved to death quite a while ago. He won't tell me what he does, but he comes home exhausted. He only just scrapes enough for us, but sometimes we can't eat. He reassured me it wasn't like drug dealing or anything like that, or anything that would put his life on the line. He knows that he can't possibly risk his life, because he doesn't know how I would survive.

I yawned and stretched, thinking.

"I dunno." I said after thinking of all the places I knew.

"How about the cinema?" He suggested casually.

"That would be awesome, but we don't have any tickets and I don't know whats on and we don't-"

I was cut off when Iggy pulled two tickets out of his back pocket.

I gasped, going over to him to see what movie it was.

I gasped with shock and delight. "Anchorman 2!" Iggy and I had seen the first one when we lived with Jeb. I think I was about 11 or 12, Iggy 13 or 14. We both loved it, but we hadn't watched it in ages.

And why did we watch it when we were clearly underage?

Well, we didn't really care. It didn't affect us anyway, so it was fine.

"How did you get these?" I said, delight in my voice.

He smiled. "Magic."

**Btw I've seen Anchorman 2, it's so funny.**

"Wait, Ig, it's rated 15. I look 13 still. What if they don't let us in? It's against the law to see a film underage in the cinema." I said, suspicious about how he would get me in.

"Max. When have we ever cared about the law?" He said, amused.

I smirked. "Forever, of course."

We got into the film with no problem. We walked out, still laughing at how when people were clapping in the film I automatically clapped, and didn't realise what I was doing until Iggy pointed it out. **I did that, because we'd just broken up from school and we'd had final assembly earlier that day, and I wasn't listening, I just clapped when other people clapped. So in the film when everybody started clapping I automatically clapped and didn't notice and my friend turned to me and was like "Why did you clap?" and I realised what I'd done and we couldn't stop laughing.**

"Doby!" I said, quoting the film, and we both receded into fits of laughter again.

"I bottle fed and raised a shark! I was blind!" Iggy said, also quoting the film, but in a perfect voice, which just made me laugh harder. Iggy was amazing at imitating people's voices.

We were back home, and Iggy hugged me as he got ready to leave for work hours later. We'd had loads of fun in the cinema and out in town, but it was 9pm now and he had to go.

"I might not be that long, I might be able to get some time off because it's your birthday."

I nodded.

He pulled away from me, and grabbed my chin in his hands, making me look him in the eye.

"Please don't go out and scare me again. Please, Max. Stay here. Don't make me force you."

I nodded vaguely, and he kissed me on the forehead.

"Bye!" He said, closing the door behind him as he left.

I loved Iggy so much, and it really hurt me to lie to him like this.

The truth was that I snuck out every time Iggy had a night shift at work, which was often, and went to street fighting to try and earn some money. I was one of the best there, and they loved me. I didn't earn to much, but far more then enough for Iggy to be suspicious if I just presented him with it, so I had to hide it in places that he would fine it, and not realise that I'd earned it, thinking it was just a stroke of luck. I presented him with a small portion, saying that maybe some old lady felt sorry for me and gave me money, and he'd believed me. I'd been doing this for ages.

You may be wondering how I cover up my cuts, bruises and black eyes.

When I started, I stole some makeup from a store, and hid it in a nearby apartment in our block, and I went there and used some concealer to cover up my cuts and bruises. I hadn't known how to use it at first, but I'd had to learn quickly. I only used the necessary make-up to cover up my injuries. I hated hated hated make-up, but I had to admit, it could be pretty damn useful.

But there were some things I couldn't cover up, like when I'd had a long cut all the way down the side of my arm. I'd told Iggy that I'd been messing around and I'd tripped, and just cut it on something on the pavement or something. He was pretty suspicious, but he bought it in the end, because what else could have caused it.

I headed out of the door, going to a fight. I needed to do this.

I'd arrived at the crumbling, derelict building that was only used for fights.

The people who worked for the person running all this, grabbed me when they spotted me and dragged me into the ring quickly.

One of them laughed, rubbing his hands together. "You are _screwed!" _He said, backing away into the crowd. There was a big audience of people attracted to these fights, and pretty every fighter was 20 and under.

One of the people had a microphone.

"Who challenges, _the_ Maximum Ride?" He belted out, the audience screaming when they heard my name. I was well known around here.

Somebody jumped up into the ring. He looked to be about 16, 17, with light brown hair and a dangerous face.

The microphone was thrust into his face. "What's your name?"

My challenger smiled maliciously, looking right at me. "Knife."

"Ok, Knife!" The announcer turned away from us, everybody placing bets.

"Begin!" He yelled, and Knife lunged at me.

He was slow.

I dodged under his punch and kicked his stomach quickly, receding out of is reach. His face transformed to a perfect picture of rage, and he ran to me, punching me in the face before I moved. It was a brutal punch, he was extremely strong, but I was faster. And I wasn't exactly weak.

I kicked him in his no-go zone and punched his face quickly. Red was clouding my vision, and pure rage flowed through my veins. How dare he challenge me? I was going to destroy him.

He snarled at me and pulled out a knife.

_A knife._

Knife's were banned in these fights, but I didn't expect to be saved. Everyone was loving it too much, and nobody would care too much if I was killed.

He ran at me, aiming his knife for my neck, but I ducked and was given a long, deep, cut on my head, making blood drip into my eyes, clouding my vision even more. I punched him in the stomach and tried to scramble out of his way, but he grabbed my arm and held it in a strong grip, and I struggled and kicked, yelling. He only smiled and drove the knife into my arm, dragging it all the way down.

I screamed, my vision cutting out for a second, my hearing going all echoey.

He dragged the knife from deep inside my wrist all the way to my shoulder.

I got the strength to kick him in his no go zone again, and he flinched, his grip releasing only slightly. But that was all I needed. I bit his hand as hard as I could, and he yelled, trying to shake me off, but I only bit harder, thinking pit bull thoughts until he let go and punched me in the head.

I scrambled backwards away from him, my blood everywhere.

_Iggy's gonna kill me. There's no hiding this._

Was all I could think as I stood up slowly, dizzily, ready to attack again.

I ran at him, discontedley trying to punch him with my good arm, which was the arm I was worse at punching with. He kicked me and floored me, my back slamming into the ground, hard. He grabbed my foot and twisted until there was a huge crack and I screamed and pain coursed through me. He grinned, his eyes dangerous, a horrible look of enjoyment in them.

_This is it._ I thought. _ After all my time being the champion, I was brought down. I hope Iggy will be alright on his own._

I stood up dizzily and fell down again.

"I beat THE Maximum Ride." He yelled, plunging his knife deep into my shoulder.

I screamed. I was seriously going to die. This was it.

My vision blurred, and I was seeing double. I saw him being dragged away, and heard him being announced as the winner from a distance.

I sank slowly into a dark abyss of blackness, hoping it would end quickly.

I woke up slowly, dizzily opening my eyes. I think I'd only been out for a short time, because there were still people here.

There was a boy crouching next to me. I tried to focus my vision, and realised it was the boy from my dream. It was him! WTF!

I gasped, and he looked worried. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not gonna hurt you, I just wanna help."

His voice was deep and intoxicating, instantly calming me down a bit.

"Where do you… live?" He asked.

I coughed. "With…. With my big brother."

He looked surprised, probably wondering how any brother could let their younger sister come to a place like this.

"Where? I can get you to him."

I shook my head. "He's gonna kill me. He doesn't know I come here."

"You'll die if you stay here. Tell me where he is, I'll help you."

I coughed out what street our apartment block was on, and the boy lifted me up, helping me stand on one leg.

My head swam and I would've collapsed if he hadn't grabbed me.

He put my good arm around his shoulder and lifted me up, bridal style.

My vision blurred for a second, then I realised that I was being carried by a stranger. His touch was electrifying.

"I can walk." I choked out.

The boy shook his head.

"What's your name? If you insist on holding me, you can at least tell me who you are.

He looked down at me, and we made eye contact.

"I'm Fang." He said.

Then I had this weird sensation that I was falling, and I sank slowly into nothingness.

Memories of my time with Iggy on the streets flashed through my head, and I relived each and every one of them. Us laughing, having fun. Iggy protecting me from some guys who tried to mug me once. Us finding our little flat, fixing it up. Our whole life together.

We were troubled, but free.

**Whew, that was long.**

**So please please PLEASE review! It only takes a few seconds, and you'll make my day. Tell me what you thought, and IF I GET ENOUGH REVEIWS ILL UPDATE AGAIN TODAY!**

**Fly on.**

**-Raven.**


	2. Chapter 2: Consequences of my actions

**Hey guys! I'm really happy with the feedback I've gotten from this story. I think about 6 of you reviewed, and they're really nice reviews. I'm so so happy with them, so I'm trying to spend a lot of time on this chapter.**

**Onwards!**

Max's POV.

I was flashing in and out of consciousness. I woke up and opened my eyes to see Fang carrying me. I looked around and saw we were approaching my apartment block. Nerves rushed through me when I thought about facing Iggy, I didn't know how he would react on finding out about me lying to him and sneaking around behind his back.

"Which apartment do you live in?" Fang asked, his voice gentle.

"Top one." I croaked, coughing.

I passed out again, and woke up again as Fang was nearing the top of the stairs. He looked a bit strained, but not too strained.

He's strong.

Outside our apartment door he stopped, placing me down gently, standing me up on my good leg, and putting my good arm around his shoulder so that he was supporting me. Nerves flipped in my stomach when he knocked on the door.

Too late now.

"He's probably still at-" I began, but then the door opened, to reveal a stone= faced Iggy standing there. His face creased with worry when he saw me, and ushered us in.

"What the HELL HAPPENED?" He said, his voice rising in a yell.

"I told you, Max! I trusted you to not risk your life again, and you ignored me."

His voice broke. "I trusted you."

"I'm sorry Ig." Was all I could say. I felt energy draining from me, and Fang had to hold me up fully, I didn't have the strength to stand in any way.

Iggy suddenly noticed Fang. "Who are you?" He said his voice cold.

"I… found Max. I helped her here. I'm only trying to help." Fang replied coolly.

I think that it was at this moment that Iggy noticed just how badly injured I actually was.

He took me off Fang and laid me on our battered sofa, going into the kitchen for our first aid kit.

"What happened?" Iggy said, addressing Fang.

"I.. Uh… She.." Fang stuttered, not necessarily wanting to give away my secret.

I made eye contact with him and nodded slowly. I didn't have the energy to speak.

Iggy was looking from me to Fang.

"Well?"

"Well, um, you know the street fights-"

"The ones downtown?" Iggy asked.

Fang nodded. "Yeah, those ones. Well, Max was… in one."

Iggy's eyes widened. "What?" He said, turning to me, his voice deadly cold.

"Yeah, and, um, this guy kinda pulled out a knife." Fang continued cautiously.

Iggy opened his first aid kid, and pulled out a bunch of stuff.

"Where is she hurt? I can't see under all the blood."

He's right. I am covered in blood. My vision blurred and went double, and I felt really light-headed and weird. I think the blood loss was causing it.

Iggy crouched beside me, setting aside his anger for later, his face creased with worry.

Fang leaned over me, looking concerned also.

"She was stabbed in.. this shoulder, and he cut her head and…. Her arm and broke her foot."

"Jesus Max." Iggy said, his voice hushed.

I closed my eyes, and it felt like my body was hovering in the air. For a second I was completely detached, floating in the darkness, and then Iggy's voice yanked me back.

"No no Max, stay with me, stay awake." He said, wiping blood off my forehead and putting antiseptic on all of my cuts, making me gasp.

I heard a horrible, low groan of utter pain, and then realised that it was me, shutting it off quickly.

My eyes drifted shut again, and this time even Iggy's frantic shouts couldn't bring me back.

_Jeb slapped me for the first time then. I saw pure anger in his eyes as he lashed out, striking me across the face as hard as he could._

_I clenched my jaw, taking the pain, staring Jeb in the eyes without even flinching._

_Iggy jumped up to me, holding me back before I could attack Jeb._

"_Stop it, Max." He said, holding me while I struggled. "Let it go."_

_Jeb nodded to Iggy and took another swig of whisky. "See, he's a good boy."_

_I sat in the corner of my room, my arms around my knees, blood dripping down from my arm onto my legs. Iggy opened the door softly, sticking his head in and looking around. He gasped when his eyes fell on me._

_He shut the door behind him and crouched in front of me._

"_What did he do, Max? What did he do?"_

_I looked him in the eyes. Iggy had been gone, out with his friends. Jeb had been drunk, and I'd gone into the kitchen for food, and Jeb was there._

_He flipped out and smashed his glass beer bottle on my arm, shouting._

"_Max? What did he do?" Iggy said, worry in his eyes._

_I just shook my head and stayed quiet. Iggy gently grabbed my arm and pulled it gently so that it wasn't around my knees. He very slowly rolled up my bloody sleeve, and hissed a quick intake of breath trough his teeth._

"_Oh my god." He said. "I'm gonna kill him. I'm GONNA KILL HIM!" _

_I sat on the swing, gently pushing myself. The rain poured down on me, and I was soaked through._

_I didn't know where I was. I'd gone. I'd gone from home. I'd ran and ran, until I almost collapsed, just wanting to be away from it all._

_Jeb had gone too far._

_I was shivering uncontrollably now, my whole body convulsing in little shakes. I looked at the sky. It was dark now. I was all alone in the playground._

_There was a little play tunnel next to the swings where I could have easily sheltered from the rain, but I didn't bother._

_I just didn't care._

"_Max?" I heard a voice shout from a distance. Could it be somebody else?_

"_MAX?" The voice was closer now. I could also recognise it as Iggy's. _

_I dived into the tunnel quickly, hiding. I didn't want to be found. I'd have to go back to Jeb._

_I hoped Iggy wouldn't find me. He'd be fine without me. He'd get over it eventually. He's have loads of friends, and go on. He was 14, he'd be fine. _

"_MAX? MAX! WHERE ARE YOU?" I crouched in the tunnel, my hands around my knees, knees pulled up to my chest, and my head in between my knees._

"_Max?" A gently hand touched my shoulder lightly. I looked up at Iggy._

"_Oh Max thank god!" He pulled me into a tight hug. "I thought you were gone forever. I was so scared. Please don't do that again, Max."_

_I didn't say anything._

_He pulled away from me, tears in his eyes. His voice cracked. "Max. Please."_

_I just blinked the rain out of my eyes. _

_I wasn't making any promises._

"_C'mon, Max." Iggy said, sounding heart broken. "Let's go home."_

_I scuttled away from him, back down the other end of the tunnel. I wasn't going home. Jeb was there._

"_No Max, Jeb's not there. I promise. And even if he is, I'll protect you. I'll stop him Max, it'll be fine."_

_I couldn't control all the emotions running through me, fear, love, hate, terror, rage, sadness, trust, suspicion._

_I just went to Iggy as fast as I could, hugging him as tight as I could, sobbing into his shoulder. I never cried. Ever. I think it really shocked Iggy then, because he froze for a second. I think that it was then he realised just how bad it was._

_He just held me and comforted me until I stopped, and then he picked me up, putting me on his shoulders, taking me home._

"Max?" Voices floated around me. It was Iggy He sounded utterly heartbroken.

My eyes fluttered open. I was seeing double, my eyes unfocused and blurry.

I could vaguely make out Iggy's form in front of me. I blinked a couple of times, and my eyes focused.

He looked devastated, Fang kneeling behind him with a similar expression.

I coughed.

"I'm fine." I croaked out, my voice barely a whisper.

He smiled with sadness in his eyes.

Every one of my cuts was throbbing painfully along with my heartbeat. I didn't know what was going to happen to me.

I was lying on my back on the sofa, and I struggled to sit up.

I pushed myself up with my good arm and my head span, my arm buckling.

Iggy helped me sit up properly.

"How do you feel?" He said, kneeling beside me.

I briefly closed my eyes and rubbed my eye with my good hand.

"Never better."

I rubbed the other eye and recoiled sharply when it send sudden pain coursing through it.

"I wouldn't touch that eye." Iggy said.

"Why?"

"You've got a black eye."

I smiled slightly. "I do?"

He nodded.

"A right shiner." Fang said from behind Iggy.

I yawned, suddenly tired. It was weird, like just sitting up had literally sapped all the energy from me.

"You tired?" Iggy asked, concern in his voice.

I nodded slowly, working on trying to keep my eyes open.

"Why don't you get some rest then? I'll stay here."

I nodded, sliding back down on the sofa.

My eyes fluttered shut and I was deeply asleep within seconds.

Narrator's POV.

Iggy stayed crouched beside Max as she fell asleep, paternal love and worry on his face. He'd always felt fully responsible for Max.

Fang was standing behind Iggy, looking down at Max.

He felt a strange attachment to Max. This was extremely odd for Fang, not only because he barely knew anything about her, but also because he didn't….. Trust people easily. He felt like he could place his life in Max's hands without a second thought.

Iggy stood up suddenly, turning around to face Fang.

"Thank you _so_ much for bringing her here." He said, extremely grateful.

Fang nodded. "Anytime."

"How can I repay you?" Iggy said. "Is there anything within my abilities which I can do for you?"

"Where do you… live?" Iggy asked, slightly cautious.

"I don't have a place. I was only kicked out of my house a couple of days ago. I've been sleeping on the street."

"You can stay here." Iggy said, happy to offer any kind of reward for Fang helping Max.

Fang held up his hand. "Nah, you don't have to. It's cool, don't worry man."

Iggy shook his head. "No, c'mon, at least for a while. Somebody needs to keep an eye on Max when I'm not here." He looked over to her, paternal love on his face. "I think she'd like the company. She's alone too much."

Fang nodded slowly. He was sick of sleeping on the cold, wet pavement, trying to find a slightly sheltered place.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be any trouble or anything."

Iggy nodded. "Yeah yeah, it's fine."

Max's POV.

Bright morning light pierced my eyelids, waking me up sharply.

I could hear soft voices in the kitchen.

I opened my eyes and sat up slowly, rubbing my head.

"Max?"

I looked over the kitchen. Both Iggy and Fang were in there.

"Yeah?" I said, swinging my legs off the sofa, ready to get up.

"No no no, Max, don't stand." Iggy said, rushing to my side.

"Why?" I said questioningly.

"You broke your foot, badly. I went out this morning and got you these." Iggy said, picking up some crutches from behind the sofa.

Oh yeah, my foot.

"We put a splint on it." Iggy said, motioning to my leg.

_That _was what that weird feeling.

Iggy handed me the crutched and I slipped my arms through, standing slowly.

"Try not to use your injured arm to much!" Iggy said, helping me get steady.

"I'll be fine Ig, don't worry." I said, adjusting myself to get more comfortable. I'd used crutches before, when I used to go to school. When people came in on them everyone went in a big crowd around them, asking for a go.

I'd only ever got a couple of goes, and only for about twenty seconds, but still.

I practiced, going in a circle around the sofa. It was kinda hard, because if I put too much weight on my bad arm, it really stung and caused me even more pain.

When I got back to Iggy I looked up, smiling.

"I can do it pretty well."

He smiled, paternal love in his eyes. "You can."

All of a sudden I noticed that I was ravenously hungry. I hadn't eaten for ages.

"Do we have anything to eat?" I asked, desperately hungry.

Iggy shook his head. "Sorry, we ran out yesterday. I'll go get some more."

I opened my mouth to say that I would come, but Iggy raised his hand, stopping me.

He grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair, putting it on as he spoke. "No Max, stay here. You can't do too much exercise for a while, you'll strain yourself."

I opened my mouth to protest, then closed it. He was right, and I'd caused him enough trouble already.

"Bye- Max, _don't _go out. Please listen to me this time.

Then he shut the door quietly, and he was gone.

I turned to Fang.

"Thank you so much for helping me. I'd be dead if you hadn't." It was the truth. I was still in intense pain everywhere, but it was better than being dead.

Far better.

"No problem."

"So, whaddaya wanna do?" I said, smiling.

He shrugged, a small smile forming on his face.

"We can go up the roof." I suggested.

His eyes brightened. "I love heights."

We were up on the roof. In the end, Fang had carried me up here. I felt so at ease with him, like I'd known him all my life. It was kinda odd, I felt that I could place my life in his hands without a second thought. And that is weird for me, because since Jeb, I've had some big trust issues.

I sat down, my legs dangling off the edge of the roof. Fang sat next to me, copying my position without hesitation.

We sat there without talking for a while, just swinging our legs and taking in the urban beauty of the city.

Fang broke the silence. "What's Max short for?"

I looked at him sideways. "Maximum. My surname is Ride."

"Maximum Ride." Fang said, testing it out. "I like it. Awesome name."

"What's your full name?"

"Fang Venom."

I looked at him fully, smiling. "That's such a cool name! You're pretty lucky."

He shrugged. "Not all people react that way."

"What's your favourite colour?" I asked after a minute of silence.

"Black or dark purple."

I smirked. "Same."

"Age?" Fang said. A man of many words here, people,

"14 as of yesterday."

"14, 15 in a few months."

"Worst ever injury?" He asked.

I tapped the arm which Knife had dragged his weapon through one night prior.

Fang pulled up one trouser leg and showed me a long scar running the length of his knee to his foot.

"Favourite holiday?"

"Probably Christmas." I said.

"Same." He nodded.

"Would you rather be able to fly or shoot fire from your hands?"

"Wings." Fang said instantly. I nodded in an easy agreement.

"What colour would your wings be?"

"Midnight black." He said.

I thought for a second. "Deep black with gold splatters."

"Favourite food?" He asked.

"The nearest." We both said at the same time. We looked at each other sharply.

"Woah. Spooky." I said, smirking.

He smirked back and we both looked back to the city, falling into a comfortable silence.

After a minute I lay down on my back, my legs still dangling precariously off the edge of the roof.

I watched the clouds above me, and thought about what was beyond.

I woke up when somebody shook my (good.) shoulder gently. "Max." Fang said. "Iggy's here with the food."

At the word "food." I woke up properly, opening my eyes and sitting up quickly.

Iggy laughed from the entrance to the roof.

**Hey guys. I know I'm uploading this a little late, but I spent a lot of time on this chapter, I really hope you like it. I would like the people who reviewed my first chapter, you all really gave me the inspiration and confidence to continue this story.**

**Fly on.**

**-Raven.**


	3. Chapter 3: Remembering

**Hey guys. This is chapter 3 of my new story. I would like to give a special thanks to every person that reviewed, every review was special to me and they've all lit up my day, which I needed.**

**Thanks to the super awesome people that reviewed, I love you.**

**Random Fact of the chapter: I listen to music all the time, music is my life.**

**Onwards.**

Max's POV.

The days passed relatively quickly after that. I was healing slowly and was still in a lot of pain, but I think things were looking up. Fang and I were getting closer, and spent most days alone together while Iggy worked.

Like today.

It had been a couple of days since Fang saved me, and it was about 11 in the morning. Iggy had left for work before we woke up, and we didn't know what to do, so we went up to the roof, as always.

When we were up there, instead of sitting down on the edge like I usually did, I just stood up, adjusting my crutches.

"Wanna see how fast I can go?" I said, smirking at Fang, squinting slightly from the amount of sun in my eyes.

He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is that the best idea, considering we're on the roof?" He said, taking on an amused tone.

"Yeah." I said in a "duh." Tone.

He motioned with his hand for me to get going.

I braced myself and took long strides with my crutches, going really fast. I was to the other side of the roof in seconds, and back to Fang in only a few more.

"Not bad." He said, smiling. I loved that smile.

I sat down in our usual spot on the edge of the roof, tired out now. Since I almost died I really can't use that much energy. Iggy would probably kill me if he knew that I'd strained myself like that only a couple of days after I almost died.

The city was beautiful, bathed in the golden morning light.

_Flashback._

_Jeb stood closer to me, looking down. I could smell his breath, and the rancid odour of alcohol was all I could smell._

"_What did you say to me?" _

_I lifted my chin. "I said I hated you."_

_He raised his hand, a beer bottle in it, smashing it over my head._

_End of flashback._

I shivered, remembering a short fragment of that horrible day

Fang put an arm around me. "Cold?" He said.

I shook my head. "Just….. remembering. The day we were kicked out."

He didn't look at me, staring ahead at the view.

"I remember sometimes. I remember all the horrible things my mum did, the things she said. I can't help it. It gets worse when I go to sleep."

I nodded. I always had nightmares about my past, like I was half able to block them out in the day, the during the night time they reigned free.

"Same here." Was all I said.

I saw Fang turn to look at me out of the corner of my eye, and I looked up at him.

He was unbearably handsome, the morning light making his midnight black hair shine. I had a sudden urge to run my hands through it, it looked so soft.

I don't know who started it, but all of a sudden our mouths collided in a sudden kiss.

My hands wound up into his hair, and his down onto the small of my back.

It was furious and passionate, full of longing. Then it was over.

I think it was Fang who pulled away, and I felt a snap, like an elastic band breaking.

We looked at each other for a few seconds, and then away.

We looked out at the city, neither of us talking for a while. The silence was tipped with something I couldn't quite identify.

I didn't know whether to break the silence or not, and I kept sneaking little looks at Fang. Oh god. He probably doesn't like me back. I probably just ruined our friendship.

"When did you dye your hair?" Fang suddenly asked. I looked at him questioningly. "I keep forgetting to ask. When did you dye streaks in?" He said, picking up a strand of one of my blonde streaks.

"I didn't. They're natural. It probably looks weird considering that my hair is so dark, but I didn't do them. My whole family has weird hair, Iggy's red tips are natural also."

He smiled. "It suits you."

It was later that night, and Iggy was back from work. We were eating a little microwave meal, and we were sitting up on the roof. I know, we go up there all the time, but it's nice. If you were us, you probably would too.

We were chatting randomly, just having stupid conversations and playing would you rather.

"Would you rather-" I said. "Have a pepperoni nose or a fishtail chin?"

"Nose." Iggy said quickly.

Fang nodded. "A fishtail chin would be so weird."

"Would you rather have a year's supply of bacon or dinner with Morgan Freeman?" Iggy said.

I moaned. "Oh my god, that's so hard!"

I thought for a while. I really couldn't decide. They were both too awesome.

I shrugged, but due to my recent stab wound, only one shoulder moved, while the other sort of twitched and sent pain down my arm.

"But after a while you might get bored of bacon." I pointed out. "I think Morgan Freeman."

Fang nodded. "Yeah."

I finished my food first and set my plate aside still hungry.

Fang finished soon after me and asked if I wanted seconds. I nodded and he went off to go get more.

It was just Iggy and I. We hadn't really had any proper alone time since Fang started staying here.

"Max?" Iggy said.

"mmhmm?"

"Why did you go to that fight?"

I looked down. "We needed the money."

"How long? How long have you been risking your life like this?"

"A while."

He made a sort of tutting noise. "Max, just… did you think I would be fine if you died? Did you think I wouldn't care?"

I looked into the distance. "I thought- I thought that you might be a little upset but you'd get over in soon and get on with your life."

"Why did you think that Max? I've been taking care of you for years, did you think that I considered it as a job? I would be destroyed if you were gone!"

I stayed silent.

"Wait, the money I've been finding for ages, was that- was that _you?_"

I nodded meekly.

Iggy pulled me into a hug, putting his chin on my head.

_Flashback._

_Jeb raised the bottle, smashing it over my head._

_I gasped, recoiling, and then my sight went red as pure rage ran through me. I lunged forward and punched Jeb in the face, as hard as I could._

_He shouted in anger and pain, and stumbled back, hitting the kitchen counter. He opened one of the drawers and fumbled through, pulling out a huge carving knife, rage flashing in his eyes. _

_He strode forwards and slammed me back into the wall, holding the knife to my neck._

"_I'll do it!" He said. His voice rose into a shout. "I'll do it!"_

_End of flashback._

Iggy hugged me tighter, making the horrible flashback go away.

"I keep remembering the day it happened- the day Jeb kicked us out."

"I know Max, I know." He said, rubbing my back, his voice comforting, soothing my pain.

After a short while we pulled apart and continued to stare into the beautiful sunset, the light shining off the top of the buildings.

"Don't do anything like that _ever_ again."

I didn't say anything, I couldn't make that kind of promise.

"Max?"

"I can't make that kind of promise, Ig. I might have to one day. But I won't if there's no need."

He seemed half satisfied with that answer, looking away, a muscle in his jaw jumping.

We headed downstairs after we were done, ready to crash.

I was exhausted, to be truthful with you.

Fang and Iggy were talking, they'd become pretty good friends, and I just face planted onto my mattress on the floor, weakly pulling the covers so that the covered half of me, and fell asleep straight away.

"_I'll do it!" His voice rose into a shout. "I'll do it!"_

_I raised my knee and kicked him in the stomach. Hard. _

_He growled and grabbed my shoulders, flipping me around and slamming my face into the wall with a blinding impact._

_Then, all of sudden, I felt his knife plunge into my back, next to my shoulder, not deep enough to kill, just to maim. He proceeded to drag the knife across my back, all the way to my hip. I screamed, tears dripping down my face._

_He flipped me around to face him again and raised his knife. I closed my eyes, tears pouring down my face, ready for more unbearable pain, but it didn't come._

_I opened my eyes to see Iggy pinning Jeb onto the ground, trying to grab the knife out of his hands. I slid to the floor, wanting to help, but still in shock of what Jeb just did._

_Iggy managed to grab the knife out of Jeb's flailing hands, chucking it away, to the other side of the room._

_He stood up, kicking Jeb in the side, hard._

_Jeb moaned and curled into a ball._

_Iggy kneeled in front of me._

"_Oh god Max, it's ok, it's ok, it's fine, turn around, let me see what he did."_

_I was blinded by tears, and I roughly stood up, turning around so that Iggy could see what Jeb had done._

"_oh my god, Max, oh my god!" Iggy voice became anger filled, and I saw him turn around to go kick Jeb's ass, but he wasn't on the floor where he had been._

_I looked around. "Iggy!" I shouted as Jeb picked up the knife, lunging towards us._

_He saw and grabbed me quickly, yanking me out of the way._

_Iggy started running, dragging me behind. I was stumbling, tears in my eyes, blinded by the pain._

"_C'mon Max!" Iggy tugged me, and I picked up the speed a bit, but when we got to the front door, Jeb was already there, standing in front of it, a manic grin on his face._

_We froze in place, skidding slowly to stop._

_I was half hiding behind Iggy, and he was shielding me with his body._

"_Iggy." Jeb said. "Iggy, you were always my favourite. Just give me the girl, and you can stay here. You can live a long, happy life. I'll send you to the best universities, and buy you anything you want. You're such a g-"_

"_Shut up!" Iggy shouted, cutting off Jeb. "Just shut. Up! There's no way in hell I'm staying with you, you're a dangerous physco, and you're not fit to have children! If mum was still alive, she would be so disgusted. She's probably glad that she's gone!"_

_Jeb's face crashed down. "Iggy, please. Just give me Max, then you can do what you want."_

_Iggy shook his head. "Fuck off."_

_Jeb snarled and lunged viciously at us, but we both dodged his flailing knife, darting towards the door. Iggy threw it open quickly, and we started running out, but Jeb grabbed my shirt, tugging me back in._

"_Iggy!" I shouted as Jeb started dragging me back into the house._

_He jumped back in and started whaling on Jeb, but he didn't let go, raising the knife to my throat._

"_Stop! I'll do it!" He said, and Iggy froze dead in place. There were a few seconds of silence, and then I put my head down and bit Jeb's hand as hard as I could, my jaw aching. He yelled and dropped me, kicking me in the ribs viciously. Iggy dragged me up and we continued running._

"_I hate you, Max!" Jeb screamed, the scream echoing in my ears as we ran._

I bolted upright, tears rolling down my face, my breathing fast.

"Max?" I heard a soft voice and looked around to see Fang crouching beside me.

"Nightmare?"

I shook my head. "More like a bad memory."

Fang nodded, understanding what I was going through.

He opened his arms and I crashed into them, still crying silently, the tears going all over the shoulder of Fang's shirt.

I was broken, and as Fang held me while I cried, I could feel him fixing me.

The next day, we all went out. Iggy didn't have work, and I think we all needed new clothes and stuff. He had enough money to provide, which he joked about constantly. I could tell that he was watching me like a hawk, and would sit me down and get me home the second I showed any kind of fatigue.

This is where my great acting skills come into use. I'm not showing any signs of weakness whatsoever.

We got a new pair of shoes for me, because my current (only pair) of trainers literally had holes everywhere.

After literally the most boring time over, we were done shopping. We hadn't actually got that much, we didn't have much money, just the basic necessities.

We were wandering around, just chatting and stuff, not really wanting to go home because it was boring, when my whole world collapsed.

I saw somebody walking down on the opposite side of the street, going past over us. It was a man, tall ish, hunched against the wind, hands stuffed in pockets.

I caught sight of his face, and it was like a rug being pulled out from underneath me. I stopped immediately, making Iggy and Fang stop too, I'd been walking (or going along on my crutches, whatever.) between them.

I leaned against a wall quickly for support, or I would've collapsed. My stomach churned and my head swam.

"What is it, Max?" Iggy said, looking distressed.

I raised a shaking hand to point at the figure receding into the distance.

"Iggy, It's him." I said. My voice shook and trembled like a leaf in the wind.

"Who, Max?" Iggy asked, but I saw in his eyes that he knew already.

My voice was filled with sorrow and despair, hate and rage all at the same time.

"Jeb."

**I felt like it was a good place to end it here, I know it's short, please don't kill me. Don't forget to review guys, every review means the world to me, literally.**

**Fly on.**

**-Raven.**


	4. Chapter 4: I'm ready

**Hey guys. Please don't kill me. Merry Christmas (sorry it's late.) and a Happy New year! I hope you guys had an awesome Christmas and got whatever you wanted and more. Tell me what you got in the reviews, I would love to hear about it. **

**I would like to give a huge thank you to my reviewers; you guys are literally the definition of awesome.**

**Random fact of the chapter: King Julien is my favourite character from Madagascar.**

**I don't know why I'm writing these random facts, but oh well.**

**Onwards ho!**

Max's POV.

Iggy whipped his head around sharply to look in the direction in which I had pointed, squinting.

Jeb suddenly turned a corner, disappearing into an alleyway.

I put a hand on my forehead, rubbing my temple. I could feel a headache coming on.

"Let's just go home." Iggy said gently, and I nodded, my brain still struggling to accept the fact that I'd _just seen Jeb near where we lived._

Dinner was quiet, none of us ourselves. Fang seemed more subdued then normal also, which was a bit odd.

I only ate a quarter of my plate, and couldn't bring myself to have anymore.

Normally I have two or three portions, so this is _**very**_ unusual for me, and I could see Iggy looking distressed at my lack of appetite. He didn't comment on it though, or make me eat anymore.

We all went to bed early, but I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned for hours, all my wounds killing me. I was hot and sticky, and filled with energy.

After a while I knew that I was going to explode if I didn't get out, so I sat up, grabbing my crutches and standing up slowly. I swung quietly out of the door, shutting it as quietly as I could.

It was a huge struggle up the stairs to the roof, but it was so worth it when the cool night's breeze cooled and soothed me, brushing gently against my face and lifting strands of my hair.

I went up to the edge of the roof, standing dangerously close, staring out, unblinking.

Jeb was somewhere here, in this city that was laid out before my eyes.

He had a reason to be here. It wasn't a coincidence.

He was here to get us back.

My hands turned into fists, my nails digging deeply into my skin.

He wasn't gonna. Not now. I was older, stronger, shaped into a warrior by a rough life. This time it would be him screaming.

"Stop."

I snapped my head around to see Fang standing a bit behind me, lingering by the entrance to the roof.

"Stop what?" I snapped, my voice a little too harsh.

He made the motion of clenching and unclenching his fists, and I looked down at my own hands. Blood was running in lines and dripping off the edge of the roof. I unclenched my fists to see crescent shaped cuts all over my palm, bleeding violently.

Fang moved closer. "You're standing a bit too close to the edge, Max. You should step back." He said, probably thinking I was going to jump.

It was then I realised just how on the edge I actually was, my feet half hanging off the edge as I stood.

I didn't move back, though.

Fang moved to stand next to me.

I looked down, past my feet, at the ground. All the way down there, there were people living their normal lives, having fun, not realising some of the horrible things that happen just next to them.

I saw cars driving to and fro, groups of friends walking down the street, laughing and taunting each other, completely oblivious to the utter horror that happened to some people right by them.

"Can't sleep, huh?"

I nodded.

"Do you think Jeb is here for a reason?" Fang said. I looked at him to see him staring out into the distance, jaw clenched.

I sighed and followed his gaze, not really looking at anything. "Yeah. For Iggy and I. I think he'll probably try to find us, and won't stop until he does."

There was a silence for a few seconds, before I suddenly came out with:

"If he doesn't find us soon, I'll have to do something. I can't let him run free. Not after what he did." I don't know why I told Fang this, I probably shouldn't have, but I had to tell somebody or I would explode.

Fang looked at me sharply.

He took two steps back, pulling me with him, so that we weren't standing half off the edge of the roof anymore.

He swivelled me around to face him. This obviously hadn't gone down well.

"Don't you dare go running off to go find Jeb. He's a psycho. Iggy would have a freaking heart attack if he woke up one morning if he discovered that you were gone, to go find Jeb. Do you not think about the consequences of your actions? Max, you almost _died _the other day. You were completely out of it, and Iggy was freaking out. We thought you were a goner! So don't you dare even _think_ about going after Jeb, or I swear I will kick your ass off this roof!"

Woah. That was the most I'd ever heard Fang say. I blinked. He'd never shown any signs of aggression. Ever.

I lifted up my hands. "Woah, calm down Mr overprotective." I said, trying to lift the mood a bit.

It was a little inappropriate, given the circumstances of the conversation, but I genuinely couldn't hold that one little sarcastic comment. It's one of the downfalls of being me, I always crack jokes at the wrong times.

Fang didn't laugh.

"Don't joke about this, Max. It's not funny. You never think about your own safety, and you have to start soon. I'm just trying to help you, Max. I don't want you to get hurt."

I had no clue what to say. I'm awful in these kinds of situations.

I just looked at my feet, avoiding eye contact.

"Don't tell Iggy." I blurted out suddenly, not wanting him to worry more.

"I might have to one day, Max. I can't promise that."

I looked back up at him. "Only if you _**really**_ have to, but apart from that, promise me you won't tell him."

"As long as you promise you won't go after him-"

"I might have to." I said, batting back Fang's words back at him.

"Let me finish Max. I was going to say unless you really have to."

I nodded and stuck out my hand

"Deal."

He reached out and we shook hands.

"Deal."

He stared into my eyes for a minute, and I stared back into his deep black eyes.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then seemed to think again, closing it.

Then he walked away to the entrance to the roof, leaving me up there on my own in an confused state.

I plonked myself down onto the edge of the roof, staring out in silence.

I didn't know what to think anymore. I was so confused, loads of strong emotions all mixing into one mass of super confusion.

I dropped my head into my hands and rubbed my temples. I could feel a headache coming on.

I sighed and lay back, my legs still dangling off the roof.

I watched the clouds, stressing about Jeb being here. I don't know why he could possibly want us back. It was kind of likely that he would want Iggy back, and the only reason he would want me would be to kill me.

Maybe that was it. Maybe he had just slipped into raged insanity, ready to kill.

But how did he know we were here? I knew it wasn't by chance. I could tell that he was here on purpose, I could sense it.

Was it simply by chance he'd found us here, after ages of searching. I didn't even know if he saw me. But I had a feeling that he was here for us, here to take us back.

To take us back to the place which once held such joy and happiness in my heart, and ended up as a household which brought nightmares, a cold place filed with hatred and pain.

My old home.

_I walked down the cold street, the rain pouring down on me. I shivered uncontrollably, completely soaked in a t-shirt and shorts._

_It was winter. As I walked past houses' I could see Christmas trees, sparkling and shining. _

_I continued on down the street, not really thinking, shivering and shaking. I took a right and came upon more houses. I continued walking, and a little nagging feeling persisted to bug me, I could've sworn I'd been here before. _

_As I tried to make the cogs turn in my mind so that I could remember this place, I walked past one house which made me halt dramatically in my tracks. This place I recognised for sure. Where the hell was I?_

_I gasped, my brain finally making the connection._

_The scene changed._

_I was still drenched, but in a cupboard this time. My hands were bound behind my back with wire and I struggled against the bonds, cutting into my wrists. I felt the blood trickle down my arms and knew that I was royally screwed._

_But I wouldn't give up._

_My feet were bound too, but I managed to sort of shuffle, getting claustrophobic in the tiny cupboard. I could barely move, I was jammed in here. I wiggled slightly and managed to knock the door open by about an inch. My mouth was gagged and I tried to scream, but the sound was muffled. I breathed fast through my nose, panicking about being trapped in such an enclosed space._

_I squirmed and wriggled some more, and after what seemed like hours but was probably only about twenty minutes, I had my legs our through the door. _

_Suddenly I heard footsteps and I froze, unsure of what to do._

_I didn't have any time to act anyway, as my feet were roughly grabbed and I was yanked out of the closet, banging my head on the way out._

_I bucked violently, trying to break free of my attacker._

_I couldn't see their face yet, but I didn't care who it was. Insane rage and adrenaline rushed through my veins._

_The attacker dropped my legs, and that's when I saw his face._

_My heart felt like it was going to explode, and I started hyperventilating as horrible memories flooded back at the sight of him._

_Jeb._

_He grinned evilly. "Max?" He said. It was funny, his voice was different to how I remembered it._

_I writhed around, twisting, trying to get __**out**__. I rolled sideways and Jeb swooped down and grabbed me quickly._

"_Max!" His voice was definitely different. I mentally shrugged it off and carried on resisting, when he slapped me in the face, hard._

"Max!" Iggy shouted.

My eyes flew open. "What the FU- FNICK?" I said, avoiding swearing at the last second. Let's just say that Iggy wouldn't appreciate it much.

That's when I turned my head and saw that I was half dangling off the roof, Iggy's hands being the only thing keeping me from falling.

I was still partially asleep at this point, but when I saw how high up I was, precariously hanging off the side of the roof, I freaked out. Not in the sense that I was scared, more like "WHAT WOAH OMG WTF WHAT HOW DID I GET HERE WHAT?" Those where my thoughts anyway.

All I actually did was make a noise of surprise and twist and wriggle violently back to Iggy, off the edge of the building.

I scrambled back as fast as I could, my thoughts quite explicit.

I recovered for a few seconds once I was safe, and then I managed to speak, my voice strained. "Iggy- What…why the _hell _was I dangling off the edge of the roof?"

"You fell asleep up here. I came up and just found you here- I tried to wake you up but you just wriggled away from me and I grabbed you just before you fell." He sounded freaked out and worried, having narrowly avoided an incident which would have had him wiping me off the street below.

"I was- dreaming." I said, my voice wobbling slightly.

I sat up slowly, still mentally reeling and wtfing.

Iggy leaned back, reaching behind me and grabbing my crutches, passing them to me and helping me up.

He looked slightly pale and shocked still, and I didn't blame him. If the roles had been reversed and I'd been in his shoes, I would be just as freaked out.

"Sorry." I said. "I was up here last night, I couldn't sleep. I sat on the edge of the roof and I guess I just- fell asleep."

I didn't mention Fang being up here. I didn't want Iggy stressing over the fact that I had considered hunting Jeb down. He'd probably have a fit.

I didn't need to mention why I couldn't sleep either- Iggy could probably figure it out for himself pretty easily.

We headed downstairs and I had a huge breakfast- what can I say, waking up after a nightmare to find yourself dangling off a roof in your brother's arms just gets your appetite right up there.

But I was distant, withdrawn. I couldn't get Jeb out of my mind, or my dream. I had a weird feeling that the dream was a prediction, a vision of the future soon to come.

I hardened my heart. You didn't need to be able to predict the future to know that there was danger up ahead.

My fists clenched.

I was ready for it.

**Guys, I am so sorry about how long this took to come out. I'm really ashamed of myself that I've let you guys down like this, and I'll try and make it up to you by making the future of this story as exciting as I can.**

**Think of this chapter as a sorry present and a gift to start your year with, I sincerely hope that all you awesome peeps out there have the best year ever, and that it's filled with happiness and success.**

**Jeez, that was cheesy, but it's true.**

**I'm really sorry to say that there may be a possibility that I'll update a bit less, I've got big exams coming up in January which will determine what sciences I'll be doing for GCSE and what set I'll be in and a bunch of other really important stuff, so I've got quite a bit of revising to do. I'm seriously panicking about these exams and school in general and I'm trying to put them out of my mind.**

**Anyway guys, Sorry that was so long. I kind of hope you read it.**

**Fly on and have an awesome 2014 guys.**

**-Raven.**


	5. The weird chapter explanation

**Yo guys, this chapter is an authors note to explain the last chapter, which I'll take down when you have all read this.**

**I did write chapter 5 for troubled but free, but omg I'm really stupid and somehow uploaded chapter 5 of MY OTHER STORY. **

**I would've fixed this two days ago, if fanfiction hadn't screwed up! The day after I posted the new chapter, fanfiction wouldn't let me see my reviews, and even yesterday it wouldn't let me go on my story to check on what I'd done. So, yesterday, I got a bunch of confused reviews, thanks so much for reviewing by the way, and I couldn't do anything about them.**

**Sorry for the inconvenience guys, I'll fix it.**

**Fly on.**

**-Raven**


	6. Chapter 5: The oncoming disaster

**Yo, wassup? Sorry about the confusing chapter, its all explained in a previous authors note.**

**please, try to review. In the few seconds it takes you to type it out, you would have made my week. **

**So…please?**

**Onwards, anyway.**

Max's POV.

It'd been about a week since we'd seen Jeb, probaby more, and I was healing.

My cuts were healing up to leave scars on my head, arm and shoulder.

Those scars would be staying for a while, but I didn't care. Scars were battle trophies. They showed that you'd been in fights, that you had been injured, but you had come out on top and survived.

Iggy was out at work, and Fang and I were up on the roof, as usual. I'd been on edge since the Jeb sighting, and had been eating less and less.

Fang hadn't mentioned our conversation on the roof, where I'd confessed to considering hunting down Jeb. Neither of us had mentioned it to Iggy either, which was a relief.

Fang and I were standing at one end of the roof, next to the entrance.

I was sick of these crutches. They had to go.

The sun was setting, and Iggy would be back soon, when I decided that I wasn't gonna use them anymore.

Henceforth me getting ready to ditch them.

"You don't need to support me yet." I said to Fang, who already had his hands on my elbows, as if to help me stand.

He wordlessly withdrew a bit and I smirked.

I pulled my arms out of the crutches, balancing on one foot while I chucked them to one side, out of my way.

I put my foot down very slowly, putting weight on it gradually in case it wasn't healed completely.

After about two seconds I got bored of caution and just put all of my weight on my foot, which gave out. I lurched a bit to the side and Fang grabbed my elbow, helping me get steady.

It was harder than I had at first anticipated, and Fang had to help me quite a bit, against my protests though, until I could sort of basically not really walk normally again, just with a big limp.

I was tired out after a short while, and in the end Fang was trying to force me back into them, since I couldn't really cope for long without them, and I mentally agreed with him, but there was no way he would know that.

"But I don't wanna use them!" I said, glaring playfully at him.

He smirked. "Well you gotta."

I shook my head. "No, they give me blisters on my hands and my arms are tired all the time." Now I couldn't give in, that would mean that he'd won.

"Well, you can't walk all the time without them yet, but if you practice every day you'll be able too soon."

I shook my head from where I was standing, a little away from him, balanced on my good leg while leaning heavily onto the entrance to the roof.

Fang rolled his eyes.

Just then Iggy came out of the little alcove which was the entrance to the roof, obviously looking for us.

"Hey." He said while pulling his hoodie off.

"Please tell her that she's got to get back into her crutches." Fang said, sounding relieved at Iggy's arrival, motioning towards me.

Iggy looked towards me and noticed that I didn't have them on.

He frowned. "You walked without them?"

I opened my mouth to say that I could walk perfectly without them, but Fang spoke before I could.

"She sort of could, but after a while she got tired out and couldn't."

I narrowed my eyes at Fang, who smirked back at me. Now that they were standing next to each other, I noticed that Iggy and Fang were the same height. Extremely freaking tall. It was weird, despite the two year age gap between them, they looked pretty much the same age. It wasn't that Iggy looked younger, more that Fang looked older.

I mean, I was much taller than the average 14 year old girl, but not as tall as them.

I mentally shrugged. _Boys._

"Max," Iggy began. I mentally braced myself and began coming up with more reasons for me not to have to use them anymore. I knew they were right, but I was in too deep to just give up now.

"If you don't use your crutches until you can walk normally again-" I opened my mouth to protest that I could already, but he cut me off. "And I mean, without getting tired out, I will kick you off this roof." He said, playfulness in his eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "FINE." I said, putting on an angry teenager voice.

He laughed and we hugged quickly, and then we all went back downstairs because it was getting pretty cold up there. Iggy went down first, with me behind him and Fang next to me.

I shivered uncontrollably in the freezing cold stairwell, and Fang put his hand on my shoulder, trying to warm me.

My breath caught in my throat as he rubbed my shoulders in an attempt to warm me up as we went down the stairs (uncomfortably, may I add, for me, in my stupid crutches.)

He stopped after a couple of seconds and I turned my head to look at him.

"Better?" He asked softly, staring into my eyes.

I nodded. "Thanks." I wasn't shivering anymore now.

He looked like he wanted to say something but then thought better of it as we reached our tiny flat.

A couple of hours later, after eating about two mouthfuls of dinner, I face planted onto my little mattress on the floor to try and sleep. I'd been getting less and less sleep recently, and had found myself going to bed earlier (something I never ever do, I always stay up late.) And waking up earlier, exhausted, after a mostly restless night with barely any sleep.

I rolled over again, praying that I'd actually fall asleep, instead of my troubled thoughts about Jeb preventing sleep.

I felt myself drift off slowly, Fang and Iggy's soft voices as they talked lulling me into sleep.

_I woke up quickly, my eyes flying open the second I came back to consciousness._

_I was staring up at a shiny white ceiling. I tried to sit up, only to find my hands and legs restrained. I lifted my head and saw that I was strapped down to a metal table, my back on fire with pain. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was, when I saw other tables around me, with kids strapped to them like me. I counted three of them, the other tables empty._

_They looked quite young, one about eleven, a girl with mocha skin and dark curly hair on the table to my left. _

_On the table to my right there was a boy, about eight, with light, fluffy but spiky blonde hair and light skin._

_On the table to his right there was a girl, who looked around six, who had curly blonde hair, the same shade as the boy's._

_All three of them were asleep. Rage boiled in the pit of my stomach as I wondered what sick freaks could kidnap innocent children like this._

_Where the hell was I?_

_I took a deep breath through my nose in an attempt to calm myself, and immediately wished I hadn't as a sickly chemical smell bombarded my nose, making me feel deeply nauseous, and giving me an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach._

_Wherever I was, it was bad._

_Very bad._

Fang's POV.

Max wasn't eating. She tried to come up with a reason why she didn't have any dinner, saying that she ate earlier, which I knew she hadn't. She had been with me all day while Iggy had been gone, and she hadn't eaten anything. This was really off for Max, as she usually ate even more than me.

And that's really saying something.

I noticed that Iggy knew that she was lying as well, but he let her go off to bed without forcing her to eat.

She hadn't really been sleeping either. You could see in in the dark circles which had formed under her eyes, and as I lay awake at night (by choice), I could hear her restlessly moving around.

Many morning I woke up to find her already up on the roof, early.

I think that she was worried about Jeb.

I remembered the other night, up on the roof, when she'd confessed to considering hunting Jeb down. There was no way I was letting her do that. No way. I felt strangely protective over her, I don't know why.

Max mumbled in her sleep from the other side of the room, sounding agitated and angry. I wonder what she was dreaming about.

I leaned back in my chair, stretching out.

Iggy and I chatted for a while, joking around a bit, when we both fell silent.

Iggy suddenly looked up at me, his eyes troubled.

"Fang?"

"Yeah?" I said, scratching an itch on my arm.

"If anything ever happens to me." He swallowed. "If anything happens to me, if I'm not around anymore, or something like that. Promise me that you'll look after Max."

I opened my mouth to say that he would be fine, when he lifted his hand, cutting me off.

"No, Fang. I've got a really bad feeling. I have since we saw Jeb. I just-" He paused, searching for a way to put it.

"I'm just… uneasy. I think something bad is going to happen soon. He's not here by chance. I can tell."

I looked at him warily for a second, then I nodded.

"If anything happens- which I'm sure it won't- I'll take care of Max." I smirked. "Make sure she doesn't hook up with any dodgy boys or anything."

Iggy cracked a smile, but his eyes were troubled, a deep unrest settled in them.

I was uneasy to. I hadn't had any connections with Jeb, hadn't had any reason to.

But I was.

I had a bad feeling that something would happen to Max. I could sense it, like animals before an earthquake.

The last couple of weeks had been relatively normal also, which just… made me feel worse. Like the calm before the storm, that period of time where all the animals start freaking out, the birds flocking away hurriedly, the dogs barking and whining and snapping their leashes in their desperate attempts to get away.

Then the tsunami hits the unsuspecting humans, unaware of the devastation to come, blindly oblivious, naïve to how in just minutes their towns would be destroyed, their homes violently knocked down, their lives shattered, the pieces scattered far apart. The aftermath of the utter devastation, the people desperately trying to rebuild their lives, make things go back to the way they were. But unsuccessfully. Because no matter whether you get your house back, your job back, your regular life back, things will never be the same. There would always be the unease below the surface, the wariness, the distrust, then sorrow, the mourning for how things used to be, hidden, where other people can't see, but still there, lingering under the surface, threatening to rip its way out, destroying people as it does so.

This was what I felt was going to happen. There was something coming. I knew it. It would be soon, and it wouldn't be pretty.

And after, life would never, ever, be the same.

Max's POV.

I came to consciousness slowly, sitting up and groggily rubbing my eyes.

I looked around. Fang was up, in the kitchen. I couldn't see Iggy anywhere, so I assumed that he was at work. Again. I stood up slowly, having to use my crutches, to my disappointment.

I made my way over to Fang, and he turned around when he heard me approaching.

"Hey." He said simply, taking a bite of a sandwich.

I sat down, rubbing my forehead. I couldn't get my dream off my mind. I had this weird feeling that…. I don't know. That something bad was going to happen.

"Hey." I said, leaning back and stretching my arms.

"Want one?" He said, indicating to his sandwich.

I shook my head. "Not hungry." I said through a yawn.

Fang took another bite and narrowed his eyes at me.

"You didn't eat yesterday." He said suspiciously.

I put on a "Who, me? No way!" face.

"No I didn't."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid Max. I was with you the whole day, you didn't eat _anything._ You did not eat _one thing._ You may think your fooling us, but you're not. Iggy knows your lying, but he doesn't know how big of a lie it is."

He sat down opposite me, finishing his sandwich.

I felt my eyes widen.

"What's up, Max. You haven't been eating, you've barely been sleeping."

I shrugged, looking away.

"Don't avoid the question, Max."

I dragged my eyes to his, making eye contact. His look was guarded, mostly unreadable, but I saw worry and unease resting in his eyes.

"I….. just have a bad feeling. I'm not hungry, honestly. I'm not trying to lose weight or anything. I'm just…. Not hungry."

I shrugged, looking away.

Fang stood up, facing the kitchen counter.

I was staring into space, thinking, when Fang reappeared in front of my face, waving another sandwich in front of me.

"Eat." He said, trying to hand it to me.

"Fang. I'm not hungry, please."

"I don't care. You'll get sick if you don't eat. Eat." He said.

I put my hands behind the chair I was sitting on so he couldn't force it into my hand.

"Max." He said. I looked deep into his deep black eyes with flecks of light brown in them.

"Eat."

I shook my head stubbornly.

He reached behind the chair, and before I could twist away he'd grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand out from behind the chair.

He forced it into my hand and pulled away.

"I'm not gonna eat this." I said, a bit annoyed.

"Eat, Max, seriously. You'll get sick."

I rolled my eyes.

"Please eat at least half of it."

"No promises." I said, taking my first bite.

"Mmmm." I took another bite. "This is really good."

Fang smirked. "I make a mean sandwich. It's a gift really."

**Timeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp. (This is the next day)**

Max's POV.

We were out in town, Iggy, Fang and I.

The walked either side of me while I swung along on my crutches. They were talking and joking around, but I'd fallen silent, staring at the ground.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I stopped dead, looking around. Fang and Iggy seemed to also, all of us with an air of unease around us.

I looked to the street opposite, and my vision receded at the corners, as if I was looking through a tube. My hearing faded away as rage boiled in my stomach.

My hearing abruptly came back, along with my vision as pure, undiluted rage flowed through my veins like pure adrenaline.

I pulled my arms out of my crutches and chucked one aside, the other one in my hand.

I saw Iggy and Fang sharply turn to look at me out of the corner of my eye. I still stared ahead. They followed my gaze and I heard Iggy gasp.

My fists clenched.

I could see Fang staring at me out of the corner of my eye and I looked to him for one second.

His eyes met mine, and I knew that he could tell what I was going to do.

I didn't care. My vision went red as I looked away, running across the street.

Right towards Jeb.

Fang grabbed my shoulder, but I broke away quickly.

"Max, NO!" He shouted, but I didn't pay any attention. All that was going through my head were the memories, memories of what Jeb did to Iggy and I.

Jeb turned around and his eyes met mine.

Fang caught up with me and grabbed me quickly, restraining me. Iggy appeared next to me quickly, staring at Jeb.

Jeb just stared into my eyes. "Come with me." He said.

I spat towards him. "What makes you think I'm going to do what you tell me to you fuc-"

He pulled a knife out of his pocket, and I stopped talking.

"Come with me, now."

Red rained down on my vision, and I snarled, wriggling in Fang's iron grip.

"Let. Me. Go!" I said, my voice rising.

"No, Max." Fang said his voice filtering through into my consciousness.

I elbowed him in the ribs as hard as I could and I heard the breath leave him in a _whoosh._ His grip loosened, only slightly, but that was all I needed.

I broke free and ran towards Jeb, lifting the one crutch that I hadn't discarded.

I couldn't run nearly half as fast as I could normally, and I was limping heavily as I advanced on him.

When I got close to him I swung the crutch, hitting him on the shoulder, making him stagger back.

I swung my crutch low, hitting just below the knee. He fell, dropping to his knees. I lifted my crutch again, ready to hit him in the head, when he spoke again.

"Max, please. I'm sorry." He said, pleading me to stop with his eyes.

Something in me snapped, and I hesitated. But then I remembered that awful, awful day which resulted in Iggy and I living on the streets.

"Sorry isn't good enough." I said, raising the crutch again.

Suddenly he stood up, lightning fast, and before I could even react, the knife was at my throat, the tip of it pressing into my windpipe slightly.

I looked at Jeb, hatred filling me.

He looked down at me, and I realised that I was almost as tall as him.

He ripped the crutch out of my hand and threw it over his shoulder, down the street, which was completely abandoned. No witnesses.

I snarled and lifted my leg, kneeing him in the stomach.

He growled and grabbed my shoulders, twisting me around to face Iggy and Fang, who were frozen in place. He pulled me back against him and put the knife against my throat again, so that one small movement would put a long slit in my throat.

I swallowed, and I felt a prick of pain, and a trickle of blood ran down my neck.

"She's coming with me." Jeb snarled at them over my head, sending a fresh wave of anger through me.

"Aw piss off Jeb! How dare you come here, how dare you even come to this city, after what you did! How dare you tell us what to d-" He pressed the knife tighter to my throat, cutting me off.

I made eye contact with Iggy.

He looked absolutely furious, eyes blazing with anger. But if you looked past that you could see the sorrow, the turmoil that came with Jeb.

He nodded, and mouthed. "I'll get you."

I gave a small nod.

"She's coming with me, and there's nothing you can do about it. If you try and stop me, I'll slit her throat." Jeb said, anger and hatred in his voice.

My eyes slid to Fang, and our gazes met.

He looked determined and rage filled. It was mostly at Jeb, but I could tell that he was angry with me also, for running away.

"I'm sorry." I mouthed, and most of the anger directed towards me melted away.

His gaze filled me with hope, just the fact that I knew that he would probably come with Iggy to get me gave me a new hope.

My hopes crashed to the ground when I realised that they had no way of knowing where Jeb was taking me.

I nodded at both of them, and then Jeb grabbed my shoulders again with an iron grip.

He twisted me around and pressed the knife in-between my shoulder-blades.

He leaned closer. "Did you know that there's a place in a man's back where, if you sink the blade in, you can pierce the heart and sever the spine, all at once."

Shivers ran down my back.

"Two things." I snarled. "One: I'm not a man. I thought you were clever enough to take that into account. Two: Yes, I did know actually."

Jeb made a noise of anger and pressed the knife deeper into my back, so that it pierced the skin.

"Go." He said, his voice rough. "Walk to the blue car up ahead, and get in the back seat."

"What? I can't sit in the front?" I said, snarling.

"Shut up." He growled.

"How about no?" I said.

Suddenly a blinding, white hot pain sliced through my head.

I crumpled to the ground, holding my head.

Black rained down on my vision, and I was unconscious before Jeb could even lift me off the ground.

**Dun dun dunnnnnn. So guys, how'd you like the chapter? Good? Bad? Okay? **

**Remember to review! I love to hear your feedback.**

**Fly on.**

**-Raven.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, wazzup? Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for your reviews, they have literally made my weekend. I was kind of down even though it's Friday night as I write this, because I've got a whole weekend of revision ahead. A. whole. Weekend. Of. Revision. Thanks so much guys, you've really cheered me up, and given the inspiration to keep on writing.**

**Onwards ho!**

Fang's POV.

Iggy and I were frozen in place. If we moved one muscle, Jeb would slit Max's throat.

They backed away slowly, and I heard Max say something to Jeb. He said something back, and when she replied, he whacked her over the head, knocking her unconscious instantly.

Iggy made some kind of distressed noise, and I sucked in a tight hissing breath through clenched teeth.

Jeb shoved Max into the back of the car, making sure she was hidden, and then shot a pointed, evil glare in our direction before ducking into the car and reversing as fast as he could, the car speeding out of the little alleyway/street we were in.

I looked at my feet, anger brewing inside my chest, so strong it felt like it was going to explode out of me if I didn't release it soon.

My fists clenched, and I closed my eyes.

I was going to get Max back, no matter what.

We went back to the apartment in silence, rage in the air around us.

When we got in Iggy slammed the door as hard as he could, making the wall shake.

He released a frustrated scream before kicking the wall, _**hard, **_making him gasp in pain.

He limped over to his mattress on the floor, leaning over to pick up a battered rucksack. He strode over to the kitchen, still limping slightly from his angered lashing out at the wall.

I stood by the door as he shoved supplies hastily into in, swearing under his breath.

After about a minute, I think he remembered that I was there. He looked up, anguish and anger brewing a dangerous combination in her eyes.

"You don't have to come. I'll give you some money, If you don't want to get involved. It's fine."

I shook my head. "Nah, I'll stay with you, help out. If you don't mind."

I shrugged. "I don't have anywhere else to go anyway, so….." I trailed off, putting my hands in the pockets of my battered black trousers.

His eyes softened slightly. "It's good."

He went back to packing food and other items I didn't really look at.

"Can I help?" I asked.

He nodded. "Get Max's knapsack, by her bed."

Max's POV.

My head throbbed along with my heartbeat, racing and pounding. With every pulse, it felt like a drill was being brutally hammered into my skull.

I opened my eyes, the first beam of light sending a new slice of pain through my head, and I winced.

_Where am I?_

It took me a while to figure out that the pure white I was seeing was a shiny, polished ceiling. If I squinted, the ceiling was so polished that I could see my extremely distorted reflection in it.

I coughed, my breath rattling in and out as I breathed.

I lifted my head slowly, battling against the protests of my head and neck, to look around.

I was strapped down to a metal table thingy, and I couldn't move at all. My back was killing me, the metal digging into my spine. I had probably been slammed down on my back. I never lay on my back, it always hurt, so I slept on my side, but mostly on my stomach, all stretched out.

I looked around me, taking in my surroundings slowly, groggily.

On the tables around me were three kids…. All matching the kids I'd seen in my dream the other night.

Can we say wtf?

I felt cold, like ice was freezing the blood as it moved down my veins as I thought about how this was the second time something that I'd dreamed had come true. Once, with Fang, and then again now.

Technically, I'd actually done it before, way back when I was 11 or 12. I shuddered at the memory, and of how Jeb had acted that one time, the day I'd dreamed it. But let's not get into that dreadful day, back in the early days of Jeb's abuse.

I shook my head, as if to physically expel the memory from me.

The girl to my left lifted her head, and I snapped my own around to look at her.

Her eyes widened when she saw me.

"What… where are we?" I asked.

"I…. I don't know." She replied, her eyes filled with fright.

Anger filled me at the sight of these innocent kids being terrorised for no reason.

"How long have you been here? How long have _I _been here?" I said, having a desperate thirst for information.

"I'm not sure…. I've only been here a 'couple days, and I remember they brought you in before I fell asleep, so only a couple of hours."

I nodded, processing the information.

"He-hello?"

The voice came from behind me, and I twisted my head around to look.

It was the little fair-haired boy, his beautiful bright blue eyes filled with fear.

"Hey." I said softly, my heart going out to him instantly.

"I'm the Gasman, or Gazzy for short." He cracked a small, hesitated smile. "You don't want to know why. The girl to your left in Nudge and-"

A small blonde head popped up next to him. It was the little girl on the table next to him, her beautiful curly hair bouncing as she moved her head, her eyes identical to Gazzy's.

"And I'm Angel, Gazzy's sister."

She gave me a tiny little smile, and my heart literally melted.

The girl on my left –Nudge- coughed slightly.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but we've told you our names and you haven't told us yours. I bet I can guess it. Is it-"

"Nudge." The gasman said severely, cutting her off.

"She talks way too much." He explained.

"I- I'm Max."

"What's Max short for? What's your full name?" Angel said, her voice sweet and innocent.

"Maximum Ride. Maximum Ride is my name."

We talked for a while, sharing information. Gazzy, Nudge and Angel had all been captured two days ago, and were put in here on the same day, and nothing had happened since then, they'd just been given tiny

"Why do you think we're here?" Angel said worriedly.

I had no clue how to answer, but the door creaking open saved me.

Or not.

Jeb walked in, his lab coat flowing out behind him. We'd known that he was a scientist when Iggy and I were younger, but how was four kidnapped kids related to science?

Probably in ways I was about to find out about.

I felt my eyes narrow and my teeth clench, instantly going onto defensive mode.

"Hey. Fancy meeting you here." I practically spat at him. "Funny how coincidences happen, Isn't it. Small world! Oh wait-" began, but I was cut off when he raised his hand.

"It's you." Angel said, fear in her voice.

"You're the man who took us!" Gazzy said, anger and fear showing in his voice.

"And me!" Nudge cut in.

Jeb raised both hands. "I know that you're probably wondering why you're here." He said calmly, his voice showing no emotion whatsoever.

"But it was for a reason. We will be conducting an experiment. Yes, it will be conducted on you. Think of it as a chance to lead a revolution, to break people into a brand-new scientific world. You could-"

"Yada yada yada. Cut to the crap, Jeb." I cut in angrily, just wanting to hear my verdict.

His eyes fell on mine, and his gaze froze me into spot, turning each and every cell in my body to stone.

"You will be the first of a new generation. But there are more to come. We can't start until we have all of you."

"What do you mean?" Nudge asked, confusion plain and undisguised in her voice.

Jeb gestured widely with his hands.

"There are still two more to come."

The pure horror of the realisation sent chills down my spine.

"Iggy and Fang." I whispered.

Jeb nodded, an evil smile taking shape on his face.

"No." I breathed. "Please."

Jeb shook his head. "It's too late now, Maximum. They're already on their way."

"No, not them." I whispered. "Please."

"I can't stop them. They're coming. They're coming for you, Maximum. But You will be the first experiment. You will be upgraded before they get here, as a little surprise."

He slammed the door on the way out.

Fang's POV.

"Where would Jeb have taken Max?" I asked as we ducked into a shop to buy a map quickly, since Iggy didn't already have one.

He sighed as he picked up the first map he saw off of a stand and we went up to the counter to pay.

The person working behind the checkout was a surly teenage girl, looking around 18 or 19, with white earphones in, the music so loud that we could hear it from where we were standing. She blew a bubble with the gum in her mouth as Iggy handed over the money, and scowled as us, mid-chew, while giving us the change.

"Let's go to Jeb's house first. Maybe there are some clues there or something." He said as we headed out of the shop.

"Do you know the way there?" I asked.

"Vaguely."

I nodded, looking down at my feet.

"How far away is it?"

"I'm not sure, Max and I left it two years ago, so my memory isn't exactly crystal clear. But it will probably take us at least a couple of days, I remember it took Max and I about three weeks to find this city, but we weren't that far away from it."

I nodded, cracking my knuckles.

Iggy winced. "I hate it when people do that."

"Sissy."

He cracked a half smile and punched me on the arm, but I could see that it was all a façade, that underneath the smile there was a strong storm of pain and worry.

Max's POV.

Nothing happened that day. And nothing happened the next day either. Then, on my third day in this hell, a scientist walked in in a big white lab coat.

"Oh finally." I said, putting on a bored tone. "Some entertainment."

Nudge snorted with suppressed laughter next to me.

The scientist in front pulled his glasses down onto the bridge of his nose, looking down at me disdainfully as if I was a huge, disgusting insect that needed to be wiped right off the face of the earth.

He pressed his finger up to an earpiece. "Yes, bring in the cage now." He said, speaking into it, that one phrase sending cold shivers down my spine.

After two seconds of him glaring at me, some guy strode through the doors, pushing a trolley with a cage on it in.

He smirked at me, yanking the door open and gesturing to it widely. "Your carriage awaits." He said, executing a mock bow.

I smirked. "Nah, you're alright."

He walked up to my metal table, roughly undoing the leather, buckle straps which were holding me onto the table. Before he undid the straps, he looked at me.

"No funny business." He said, holding up a knife. My mind flashed back to the day in the fight, the day Fang saved my life, and came into it. The day that all this started.

"Just walk slowly to the cage, and get in. Or you won't live to see another day."

I nodded grimly.

When he was done, I stood up shakily, my legs trembling from the weight. I hadn't walked or used my leg muscles _at all_ in the past three days, and I still needed crutches, so walking was a real challenge.

I ducked into the cage, swallowing nervously. I needed to break out of this hellhole of misery, but now wasn't the time.

I needed to plan.

He slammed the door shut, locking it.

Claustrophobia kicked in immediately, and I was panicking as I was wheeled out of the doors and down a long hallway, with cages on either side of me.

I looked around curiously, and then screwed my eyes shut quickly. There were some things in those cages which nobody should ever have to see, ever.

After a short while, I was wheeled into a room with one singular metal table in the middle, with the straps on it. There was someone polishing it, and when he took the rag away, it was bright red. Blood.

I took in a deep breath, gathering my composure.

Around the table was what looked like doctors equipment, and there were a bunch of scientists around the edges.

The guy who had been pushing me opened the cage, grabbing my arm and hauling me out, making my band my head on the side. I winced.

He held on to my shoulders tightly and marched me to the table, throwing me back onto it, literally.

He strapped me down, and then, as he walked out of the door, he turned around, grinning manically at me.

"Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it." He said, beginning to laugh a deep, rough laugh as he shut the door.

The doctor/scientists pulled on some gloves, and one pulled a small ish metal table on wheels up to my table. I looked at it, and saw surgical equipment, like scalpels, syringes and vials of liquid along with various different instruments which looked like torture devises.

Fear scattered through my chest like sparrows and one lady picked up a huge needle, flicking the end of it like they always do in movies.

They all gathered around me.

The lady nodded at them all, and plunged the needle into my arm, pushing the syringe down and injecting me with some bright blue liquid.

I let out a quick yell of pain, biting my lip.

"Now for the next two." She said. "These will change the blood, and some other things in the organ system. Then we will move on to the hard part." She said, addressing the others.

I gulped and then, without warning, she stuck two needles into me at the same time. I bit deep into my lip as she plunged on into my neck, and the other right into where I assumed my heart was.

She pushed the plungers down on both of them, injecting me with weird coloured glowing liquid.

I felt hotter all of a sudden, all flustered like I had an awful fever. I broke out in a sweat everywhere, and my thoughts became dizzy and disconnected. Pain broke out in patches all over my body and I let out a whimper of pain.

Through blurry eyes I saw the woman pass everybody knives and scalpels, and then leaned down.

They all leaned down with her, and I felt the cold metal pressing lightly onto my skin in different areas.

She nodded at them. "You all know what to do. By the time we're finished, it should be a masterpiece. Go" _It. She called me an it._

I didn't have too much time to think about it though, when my brain shorted out.

I let out a bloodcurdling shriek of pain, every nerve feeling like it was on fire, and being stabbed repeatedly.

They were experimenting on me.

**Phew, that was tense. I really hope you guys like this chapter, and remember to review!**

**Fly on**

**-Raven.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yo. Thank you so much for the reviews, they mean loads to me. I'm soooooo sorry that this took so long to update, I really am, I've just been super busy.**

***Whispers* I lost the game.**

**Onwards then!**

Fang's POV.

It was the next day, and we were almost at Jeb's house.

Iggy and I had stopped for the night in some abandoned house, and overslept drastically. Now we were walking fast to Jeb's house, which Iggy said was close.

I yawned and rubbed my neck, sleeping on the hard floor wasn't exactly doing wonders for me.

Iggy and I were walking in silence, both of us deep in thought when Iggy started conversation.

"What's your last name? I swear you never told me."

"Fang Venom."

He raised his eyebrows, looking at me.

"_Fang Venom? You're real name is Fang Venom?"_

"Nah." I said, looking at the ground. "Named myself Fang. Venom is my real surname though."

I thought of when I had first met Max, when we were up on the roof asking each other questions.

I felt a pain in my chest when I remembered out kiss. So brief, but so filled with passion.

But she probably didn't like me that way, just thought I was a friend.

The pain travelled down to my stomach as I thought about how she was in danger now, and I shuddered at the thought of what Jeb might be doing to her.

We just had to get her soon.

Suddenly Iggy stopped in the middle of the road, and I ground to a halt next to him, going onto alert instantly.

"What is it?" I asked quietly, mentally preparing for any dangers.

He shook his head slowly, craning his neck and narrowing his eyes.

"I swear…." He muttered quietly, and then spoke up. "I swear I recognise this place."

He turned a quick 360, stopping when he faced a direction to my left.

"This way." He said, and strode ahead down the road.

After a couple of minutes of walking past houses, Iggy stopped outside one, narrowing his eyes to look at the house number on the door.

"I think…. This is it." He said, staring, drinking it all in. I saw him shudder with repressed memories and he lead the way up the drive, going to the door.

"I really hope he hasn't moved out." Iggy muttered as he put his hand on the door knob, pushing.

"Locked." He said, looking at me.

"Do you think he's moved out?" He asked, and I wordlessly walked onto the front yard, looking through the big window there.

Iggy followed me and peered through.

"Look like the same place?" I asked, staring in myself.

"Yeah. I remember, that table was always there, and that cupboard…" He trailed off as I walked away, down the drive.

"Fang, what are you doing?"

"Getting us in." I said, as I reached the end of the drive way.

I turned around to face the house again, rolling my shoulders and cracking my knuckles.

Iggy realised what I was doing. "No don't-"

He was cut off as I charged up the driveway, sprinting as fast as I could towards the door, barrelling into it shoulder first.

Max's POV.

The first thing I was aware of was a horrible low moan of agony.

As I swam to a groggy consciousness I realised that it was me, and cut it off quickly.

I opened my eyes quickly and winced as the sharp white light pierced through my eyes.

I had the weirdest sensation near my shoulder blades. I was in an intense fire of agony, and it felt like there were two spots burning two holes right through my back.

I slowly lifted my head, and looked around.

Nudge, Gazzy and Angel stared at me worriedly, and I gave them a weak smile.

I felt hot and sweaty, like I had a slight fever. My vision was blurry, and I just felt odd overall.

"How are you?" Nudge asked, looking deeply concerned.

I let my head drop again, holding it up was too much effort.

"Fine." I said, my voice cracking slightly, my throat burning.

"What…. What did they do to you?" Angel asked innocently from the other side of the room, and I didn't move my head to answer, just stared up at the white shiny ceiling, the horrible disinfectant smell piercing my nose and making my stomach churn.

I wish Iggy or Fang were here. They would make everything better, they would know what to do, how to get me out of here.

_Snap out of it, Max. You're on your own, with just three kids in the same situation as you. Trapped._

"I don't know." I said, my voice hard.

I lay there, not speaking or moving for ages, feeling too rough to do anything but lie here.

After a while I was vaguely aware of the others talking worriedly, and dimly registered my name being mentioned or called.

I closed my eyes, tumbling down into a terrifying black abyss of nightmares, and was into a deeply troubled sleep within seconds.

Fang's POV.

I slammed into the door as hard as I could, sending sharp pain all up and down my shoulder.

The door was knocked right off its hinges, and fell down into the house with me on top of it.

I moaned slightly from the floor, and rolled onto my back, one hand clutching my injured shoulder, grimacing with pain.

Iggy popped into my field of view, one hand extended to help me up.

I gratefully grabbed it and he pulled me up, sending a fresh wave of pain down my shoulder.

I stumbled slightly as he pulled me onto my feet, regaining my balance.

"You're freaking strong. You destroyed the door." Iggy said, and I looked back at where the door was, split into three pieces where I had hit it.

He whistled slowly, looking back at me, raising an eyebrow.

"You sure you're only 14?"

I nodded, rubbing my shoulder, which was much less painful than what it should have been, considering how hard I'd hit that door. But it was bearable.

He patted me on the back.

"Nice one."

He lead the way, stepping over the shattered door and making his way into the house.

Max's POV.

I started awake from a nightmare, dripping with cold sweat.

"Not real Max. Not real." I whispered to myself. I had dreamt that…. That Iggy and Fang had come to get me.

_Flashback to the dream._

_I woke up to somebody shaking my shoulder gently._

_I opened my eyes, and saw Iggy above me with Fang behind him._

_My face lit up._

"_You came." Was all I could whisper._

_They nodded, smiling at me._

_Fang came forward, grabbing whatever it was that bound me by my wrists to the table, and ripping up, snapping it, and setting my hands free._

_He moved onto my wrists and did the same, setting me free._

_I sat up slowly, dizzily, and Fang helped me off the table while Iggy went around setting the others free._

"_You okay?" He said, putting my arm around his shoulders so that he was holding me up._

_I nodded, rubbing my head. "How are we gonna get out of here?"_

_He winked. "There's a plan, don't worry."_

_I just nodded, leaning against him heavily._

_The others we free, and Iggy walked beside me, with Fang still holding me up, with Nudge, Gazzy and Angel following behind._

_We were steadily approaching a huge set of doors, walking un troubled through the abandoned and empty hallways._

_We were right in front of the doors, when all of a sudden, Jeb appeared form nowhere, holding a gun up to us._

_I could feel an extremely strong storm of hatred and fear brewing and swirling in my chest._

_He fired the gun twice, and all of a sudden Fang and Iggy were on the ground, slumped lifelessly on the once shiny polished white floors which were now blood splattered._

_It felt like my heart had been ripped right out of my chest, leaving a huge gaping hole._

_I dropped to my knees and screamed, the two people I loved most in the world were dead. Gone. Two vibrant, strong life forces, suddenly gone, eradicated, never to walk the Earth again._

_I screamed again, tears running down my face, my whole world crumbling into shattered fragments around me._

_End of dream flashback._

I felt tears running down my face as I relived the dream.

I closed my eyes and took a deep, shaky breath.

I assume that it was night, because Nudge, Gazzy and Angel were asleep, and only half of the lights which were usually on were on.

My feverish thoughts turned confused, and I started wondering how I got here.

I was terrified. I could feel memories slipping from my brain, and I was finding it harder and harder to follow a coherent train of thought.

After a short while, I started confusing the dream with reality.

_Did it happen?_ I thought, and scrambled for an answer.

I was disorientated and freaked out, and actually started thinking that the dream was real. I got a strong pain in my chest where my heart was, and felt it pounding extremely fast like a staccato drumroll.

_No, no it's not real, it can't be real, that's impossible._

After a disorientating while, I fell into a troubled sleep, still unsure as to what was real and what wasn't.

Fang's POV.

"Oh my god." Iggy said.

"I can't believe that anybody would do this." I said, looking up, my tone disgusted.

Iggy and I had searched the house, and found some files in Jeb's room, describing a sort of lab, where scientists did genetic experiments on people and animals.

I put the papers from which I was reading down and pushed them aside, appalled.

"Do you think….." Iggy began, and his voice cracked slightly. "Do you think that Jeb took Max there?"

I didn't reply, staring at the ground.

We were sat on the floor of Jeb's room, surrounded by files.

"Oh my…. I swear if he touches Max, if he lays one disgusting finger on him I'll kill him!" Iggy's voice rose to a shout. "I'll kill him if he dares to hurt Max!"

I didn't reply, but inside, I felt exactly the same way, a wild tornado of insane rage building up in my stomach and chest.

"We've got to go get her." I said, looking up finally.

"But where is this place? I didn't see any coordinates in the files." Iggy said, dropping his papers also.

I stood up, my legs aching.

"Maybe there are more somewhere." I said, and Iggy nodded, standing up with me.

Suddenly we heard footsteps downstairs. I froze, and Iggy cocked his head, listening.

"Who's here?" A voice called, and Iggy paled.

It was Jeb.

"Shit." I muttered.

Iggy quickly grabbed my arm, yanking me silently out of Jeb's room, hesitating for a second, and then went down the hall slightly, into a room which I hadn't been in before.

The walls were white, with an unmade bed and a desk. There was a huge bookcase, crammed with books. It looked like it was going to explode. There were so many books that in order to make them all fit on the shelves they looked like a game of Tetris, all turned into the spaces so that they fit together.

There were a few posters on the wall, and a corkboard on one wall with a bunch of pictures and other stuff on it.

Iggy carried on, pulling me into the room and releasing me once we were both in.

"I'm coming to get you!" A shout, filled with anger reached us, accompanied with the sound of footsteps thumping up the stairs, fast.

Iggy swore quickly under his breath and whirled around, shutting the door silently.

He grabbed my arm again, pulling me towards a huge wardrobe in the corner of the room, opening the door and shoving me in, climbing in quickly and closing the door behind him.

There were a few clothes crammed into one corner, and enough space for Iggy and I to stand.

In the near complete darkness I could see that Iggy was pale, a bead of sweat rolling down his neck.

"I used to hide here with Max." He breathed, looking at me. "This is her old room."

That was Max's room?

I didn't know she liked reading.

I turned to Iggy quickly, an idea gracing my mind.

"Ig, if I go, if I let Jeb get me and take me to the…." I searched for a word to describe the experiment labs. "The school, then maybe I can get Max, and bust out from the inside, with you helping me from the outside."

Iggy's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically, whispering back.

"No freaking way in hell, Fang. You know the sick, twisted things that go on there. There is no way I'm gonna make you go through that. It's bad enough that Max is there, I can't lose you too. And besides, I need your help busting in. How am I supposed to form a plan with you if you're in there?"

I looked away, thinking.

"In two days. Two days, at 1 in the afternoon. Get into the ventilation system. I don't know, bring explosives. Find whatever room that I'll be in, and get in there. Hopefully I'll be with Max. If I'm not, we'll figure it out then."

Iggy shook his head.

"Fang! Why are you even freaking considering this! Are you actually insane? How will you being on the inside help me at all?"

"I need to make sure that Max is fine, look after her in there."

There was no doubt that Max was there now.

"I can make sure she's alive and safe for when you bust us out, help her out."

Iggy considered this. "I'll go in then."

I shook my head. "Ig, you can build the explosives necessary to break in. I can't. I would have no way of getting in."

Iggy loved explosives, and had told me that he had a bunch of them in the apartment, just in case.

"No, Fang, I can't let you do this. No freaking way."

"I'm gonna go out." I said, my decision already made. "You're gonna stay here until Jeb and I have gone. Then you're going to prepare, to break the way in. You'll find out where it is. If you can't make it in two days, then just show up at roughly one the next day or whatever. You know what to do."

Iggy grabbed my arm as I moved to open the closet doors and slip out.

"No, Fang don't." He said, pleading with me.

I shook my head. "I have to do this. I'll be fine Ig, I promise. I'll protect Max."

His grip loosened slightly.

"Be careful." He said, his voice harsh. "Don't you dare die, and don't you dare let Max die." His voice turned sad. "You two are all I have left."

"You guys are all I have too. I had nothing before you. My life sucked. My dad… he…" My voice trailed off, and I wasn't quite ready to talk about my past.

"Then I was on my own, until I saw Max at that fight…." I stopped talking, my voice wobbling slightly.

Iggy put a hand on my shoulder. "You freaking better not die. Take care of Max, I know you can."

I nodded and opened one of the closet doors slightly, slipping quietly out.

"Show yourself you piece of crap!" I heard Jeb shout from the hall. I heard loud footsteps, and all of a sudden the door to Max's room burst open, Jeb standing in the doorway.

"You." He snarled, stomping up towards me and grabbing the front of my T-shirt, pushing me against the wall. I didn't bother to fight, pretending to be a bit scared, widening my eyes slightly.

"What are you doing here you little rat?" He practically spat in my face.

I tried to put a nervous expression on my face. "I- I was looking for M-Max." I said, putting on a stutter for the effect.

He smirked slightly. "Oh, you like her eh? Where's Iggy? What did you do to him?"

"I-uh. I…" Oh crap. I had to make up a lie quickly about why I was on my own.

"He- he uh.. he left me. I woke up one morning and he was gone." I said, coming up with the lie on the spot.

"Oh really? That doesn't sound like something he would do." Jeb said menacingly, which caused anger to bubble up in my chest.

"You don't know him! You don't know what he's like, and you never will!" I blurted out angrily.

Jeb raised a hand and smacked me across the face.

"Don't talk to me like that!" He yelled, and I clenched my jaw, and fists, to keep myself from fighting back.

My eyes flicked towards the cupboard for half a second, and then back to Jeb.

"I- I'm sorry." I said, faking fear. Rage was building up in my chest, and it felt like I was about to explode.

"You should be. Now, tell me, how did you shatter the door?" He snarled, still pushing me against the wall.

I suddenly noticed that I was just as tall as him. Maybe he was small. I mean, I wasn't that tall, _was I?_

"Uh, I ran into it…." I said sarcastically.

He growled and hit me again. "Don't use that tone with me. Don't joke around. _How did you get the door open? _You're 14 years old, no 14 year old can cause that much damage by running into a door."

"I just ran into it, I swear." I said, purposely making my voice shake.

Something changed in Jeb's eyes. "Oh really?"

I nodded.

He grinned manically. "Perfect."

He pulled me away from the wall, still holding onto my shirt, and looked around for two seconds.

"Ah.. perfect." He said, looking at Max's desk.

He went and shut the door quickly, pushing a chair against it so that I couldn't run off.

He stalked up to the desk and picked up a big white lamp, yanking it so that the plug came out of the socket.

He seemed to weigh it out in his hands.

I looked towards the wardrobe quickly again, and through a crack between the doors could barely see Iggy's silhouette.

"This will do the trick." Jeb said, walking back up to me.

I backed away, until my back hit the door to Max's room, which was directly opposite the cupboard.

Jeb grinned. "Don't run, it will only take longer."

I stayed still, considering backing out.

_No. You have to do this for Max. For Max._

I briefly closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I opened them again to see Jeb right in front of me, raising the lamp slowly.

I saw the cupboard door open slightly, and Iggy slip partially out, looking murderous.

I made eye contact with him and glared, hoping he would get the message.

I mouthed "Don't you dare." Very slightly, so that Jeb wouldn't notice.

Iggy hesitated, looking from Jeb to me.

I shook my head at him, holding up two fingers, but with my hand dangling at my side.

Iggy saw, and hesitated again.

I glared at him, praying for him to just get back in the cupboard.

Jeb smiled at me.

"Goodnight." He said, and as the brought the lamp crashing down on my head as hard as he could, as I crumpled to the floor, my vision receding from the edges inwards, the last thing I saw were Iggy's eyes, burning into mine.

**Phew! I'm sooooo sorry that this took so long to be updated guys, I really am, I've just had loads of revising and drawing and stuff to do, so I didn't have time to sit down and finish this chapter.**

**So.. here ya go. **

**I lost the game by the way.**

**Fly on.**

**-Raven.**


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